Sustainable Intensive Aquaculture

Abstract

Aquaculture has existed for several thousands of years and in many different forms (Beveridge and Little 2002). It is hugely diverse and involves the production of both aquatic animals and plants in fresh, brackish, and marine waters from near polar to tropical environments. It has the longest history in China where earthen pond culture of common carp was recorded over 3000 years ago (Landau 1991; Li 1994). Polyculture of Chinese carps and other fish species in ponds still accounts for much of the World’s aquaculture production and is a tribute to the methods developed by practitioners over thousands of years as well as to recent technological advances. A key characteristic of polyculture, partly explained by the name, is that several species are farmed together in the same body of water. This is possible because the different fish species exploit different food sources within the pond and because feeding activity and resultant fish wastes return inorganic and organic nutrients that stimulate production of plankton at the base of a pond’s food web. Depending on the level of management and inputs into the pond, this type of aquaculture is described as extensive or semi-intensive.